(1.) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a clamp device.
(2.) Description of the Related Art
In the conventional art, an electric wire bundle clamp has been widely used for fixing a bundle of wired electric cables to a board, such as a chassis or a panel of an electronic appliance. Two patents in the conventional art are U.S. Pat. No. 4,609,171 issued Sep. 2, 1986 to Kazuhiro Matsui and U.S. Pat. No. 4,439,896 issued Apr. 3, 1984 to Kazuhiro Matsui. In the former patent disclosed is a method of attaching the electric wire bundle to the board using an adhesive tape. In the latter patent a pair of elastic engaging pieces are formed on a tip end of a support formed on the lower portion of the electric wire bundle clamp and the engaging pieces are then inserted in a fixing hole formed in the board to attach the clamp to the board, where the elastic engaging pieces can be expanded/opened in opposite directions.
In the method of using the adhesive tape, once the electric wire bundle clamp is attached to the board, it cannot be easily detached. Therefore, the method cannot be used if the clamp needs to be repeatedly attached/detached.
Moreover, in the method of using the elastic engaging pieces, the elastic engaging pieces protrude from the underside of the board. These protruded portions inhibit the miniaturization of an electronic apparatus to which the board is attached. When the elastic engaging pieces are merely inserted to the fixing hole formed in the board, the support can be rotated around the fixing hole. Therefore, the electric wire bundle clamp cannot be firmly fixed, and the direction of the electric wire bundle cannot be defined. Furthermore, when the electric wire bundle clamp is detached from the board, the pair of elastic engaging pieces need to be held and closed with a jig before being disengaged from the fixing hole. This detaching operation must be performed from the underside of the board, thus making working conditions difficult. In addition, when the elastic engaging pieces are just inserted to the fixing hole formed in the board, the electric wire bundle clamp tends to fall by a force applied to the bundle of electric wires.